From “synthetic” to defined microbial communities for clearer terminology

Consortia of microbial isolates, also known as synthetic communities (SynComs), are increasingly used to study and harness microbe-microbe and microbe-host interactions. Since “synthetic” potentially evokes negative connotations, we propose adopting the term “Defined Microbial Community” for practical applications.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2026-06-08
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-74251-1
Primary Topic
Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

From “synthetic” to defined microbial communities for clearer terminology

Omri M. Finkel, Julia A. Vorholt, Tomislav Cernava, Corné M. J. Pieterse et al.
Nature Communications
Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology
article

From “synthetic” to defined microbial communities for clearer terminology

Omri M. Finkel, Julia A. Vorholt, Tomislav Cernava, Corné M. J. Pieterse, Órla O’Sullivan, Tanja Kostić, Stéphane Chaillou, Hauke Smidt, Thomas Clavel, Jesús Mercado‐Blanco, Trevor C. Charles, Malek Marian, Lene Lange, Gwyn A. Beattie, Angela Sessitsch, Marco Candela, Cintia Mayr, Luca Cocolin, Ákos T. Kovács, Paul D. Cotter, Yolanda Sanz, Michael Schloter, Benjamin L. Coltman, Robert D. Finn, Brajesh K. Singh, Pankaj Trivedi, Günter Brader, Hanna Koch, Christopher E. Lawson, Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo, Kalliope K. Papadopoulou, Gabriele Berg, Matthew Ryan
article en

Abstract

Consortia of microbial isolates, also known as synthetic communities (SynComs), are increasingly used to study and harness microbe-microbe and microbe-host interactions. Since “synthetic” potentially evokes negative connotations, we propose adopting the term “Defined Microbial Community” for practical applications.

Nature Communications
Leiden University (NL), Texas Tech University (US), University of Vienna (AT), CAB International (GB), European Bioinformatics Institute (GB), AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH (AT), Teagasc - The Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority (IE), University of Thessaly (GR), University of Waterloo (CA), Iowa State University (US), The University of Western Australia (AU), University of Toronto (CA), Utrecht University (NL), Hebrew University of Jerusalem (IL), Université Paris-Saclay (FR), Microbiologie de l’alimentation au service de la santé (FR), ETH Zurich (CH), Graz University of Technology (AT), Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (FR), Estación Experimental del Zaidín (ES), Institute of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology (DE), Instituto de Agroquímica y Tecnología de Alimentos (ES), Universitätsklinikum Aachen (DE), Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia (AU), Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Sevilla (ES), APC Microbiome Institute (IE), Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NO), Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (DE), University of Southampton (GB), University of Turin (IT), King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (TH), King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok (TH), Wellcome Trust (GB), RWTH Aachen University (DE), Wageningen University & Research (NL), University of Bologna (IT), Delft University of Technology (NL)
European Commission, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Austrian Science Fund, HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme
Zero hunger
Openalex Percentile: Top 6%
Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology
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